Chanty
Team chat and collaboration with channels, audio/video calls, and task management
Discourse
Open-source community platform with discussions, chat, and plugins
Self-hosted community platform built with Ruby on Rails and Ember.js. Features discussion forums, real-time chat, extensive customization through themes and plugins, and battle-tested reliability.
Overview
The Online Home for Your Community
Discourse is a mature, open-source community platform designed for organizations that want complete control over their discussion infrastructure. Built on Ruby on Rails and Ember.js, it has been battle-tested for over a decade by thousands of communities worldwide.
Powerful Features for Modern Communities
The platform combines traditional discussion forums with real-time chat capabilities, creating a unified space for both asynchronous and live conversations. An extensive ecosystem of official and community themes enables visual customization, while plugins extend functionality—from AI-powered chatbots to advanced SQL analysis tools via the Data Explorer.
Flexible Deployment Options
Discourse supports self-hosting on your own infrastructure, giving you full ownership of your data and deployment environment. It requires Ruby 3.3+, PostgreSQL 13, and Redis 7. For teams preferring managed solutions, official Discourse hosting handles setup, maintenance, and server management. The platform supports all major modern browsers and mobile platforms, with a commitment to accessibility following W3C WCAG guidelines.
Highlights
Discussion topics and real-time chat in a unified platform
Extensive plugin ecosystem including AI chatbots and data analysis tools
Full theme customization with official and community options
Self-hosted or managed deployment with complete data ownership
Pros
- Decade-long track record with proven stability and reliability
- Complete control over hosting, data, and customization
- Active ecosystem with extensive plugin and theme libraries
- Modern tech stack with RESTful API and responsive Ember.js frontend
Considerations
- Requires Ruby 3.3+, PostgreSQL 13, and Redis 7 for self-hosting
- GPL-2.0 license may require legal review for some commercial use cases
- Self-hosting demands infrastructure management expertise
- Initial setup complexity compared to turnkey SaaS solutions
Managed products teams compare with
When teams consider Discourse, these hosted platforms usually appear on the same shortlist.
Looking for a hosted option? These are the services engineering teams benchmark against before choosing open source.
Fit guide
Great for
- Organizations requiring full control over community data and infrastructure
- Technical teams comfortable managing Ruby on Rails applications
- Communities needing both forum discussions and real-time chat
- Projects seeking extensive customization through plugins and themes
Not ideal when
- Teams without technical resources for self-hosting or budget for managed hosting
- Organizations requiring proprietary modifications incompatible with GPL-2.0
- Simple use cases better served by lightweight forum software
- Projects needing immediate deployment without setup time
How teams use it
Open-Source Project Support Community
Centralized hub for user questions, feature discussions, and real-time contributor chat, with full control over community data and branding
Enterprise Customer Success Portal
Self-hosted platform for customer discussions, knowledge base, and support chat, ensuring data sovereignty and compliance requirements
Educational Institution Forum
Customized learning community with course discussions, student chat, and AI-powered assistance through plugins, hosted on institutional infrastructure
Professional Association Network
Branded member community combining long-form discussions, real-time networking, and specialized tools via Data Explorer for member analytics
Tech snapshot
Ruby61%
JavaScript32%
HTML3%
SCSS3%
Mustache1%
CSS1%
Frequently asked questions
What are the minimum technical requirements for self-hosting?
Discourse requires Ruby 3.3+, PostgreSQL 13, and Redis 7. Docker and Dev Container setups are available, with detailed guides for macOS, Ubuntu/Debian, and Windows environments.
Can I use Discourse without managing my own servers?
Yes, Discourse offers official managed hosting that handles setup, maintenance, and server management. Visit discourse.org/pricing for hosting options.
What license does Discourse use?
Discourse is licensed under GNU General Public License Version 2.0 (or later). Review the GPL-2.0 terms to ensure compatibility with your use case.
Does Discourse support mobile devices?
Yes, Discourse supports the latest stable releases of all major browsers and platforms, including iOS 16.4+, iPadOS, and Android devices.
How do I extend Discourse functionality?
Discourse supports plugins for adding features like AI chatbots and SQL analysis tools, plus an extensive library of official and community themes for visual customization.
Project at a glance
Active- Stars
- 46,093
- Watchers
- 46,093
- Forks
- 8,789
LicenseGPL-2.0
Repo age13 years old
Last commit3 hours ago
Self-hostingSupported
Primary languageRuby
Last synced 2 hours ago